V for Vendetta A Movie Review	MPAA Rated - R It's 1:45 Long A Review by The Dude on the Right

In "V for Vendetta" we get a back-story that we should "Remember, remember, the 5^th of November," about the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Roll forward to some years past our current time, and things in merry old England aren’t so merry anymore. Nope, England is kinda run like a Hitler dictatorship, spurned by the fear of threats of terror, disease, and people who don’t agree with the good Chancellor Sutler (John Hurt). But V, a weird dude spouting lots of alliteration and donning a black cape and Guy Fawkes mask, has a plan, and lucky for him, Evey comes along otherwise his plan would have fallen about, well a little short. Anyway, on the first November 5^th of this movie, Evey is out after curfew, starts to get assaulted, and V comes along and saves her. He then introduces Evey to his plan, how the people can change the government if they really want to, which will actually take a year to finish, while, in the meantime, V pretty much just goes on a killing spree, taking down those who wronged him many years ago.

In the meantime, Evey is tagged by the police as a traitor, but still finds time to hang with her boss. Eventually Evey is taught that she doesn’t need to be afraid, but rather needs to be strong, and a year later, V gives the people of England a reason to be merry again.

Fine, I’ll admit it, that’s a pretty simplistic story about one dude finding a way to make the people see that all might be as simple with their government as the government seems to portray thanks to its various ministries. The government controls the TV airwaves, sort of, so that lets them put their spin on every story (case in point – V blows up a landmark, the public is concerned it was a bombing, the government floats the story that it was "an emergency demolition because the building was old and became an instant safety hazard"), they even have religious folks and TV folks on payroll to keep up the ruse. Then, of course, there is the secret police that takes care of those with dissenting opinions about how things are being run, and yet, they can’t find V.

Much can be said that the movie is a futuristic look at the path at a future world we are creating today, but I just hope that most people realize this movie is based on a graphic novel dismissed by the author of said graphic novel. There are times when things get out of wack at the government level, and the government’s easiest way to deal with those who don’t seem to have the same "ideal" is to label them a terrorist. In the end the movie really leaves the question of "Is V a terrorist, or a savior of the people?" You can make your argument on both sides of the coin, and I’m not going to try to touch that subject with a ten foot pole, but, in the end, my question is "Did I find the movie entertaining?"

My simple answer is sort of.

Fine, I understand the movie needed a lot of the social commentary to set up the plot and the reasoning for V’s vendetta, but really, V’s vendetta really stemmed around those who did him wrong in year’s past. The fact that it could cause a radical government change just happens to coincide with it, and sort of gives V his rational for his vendetta. Evey entering his life sort of throws V’s reasoning in a little disarray, especially since they develop feelings for each other, and V seems to actually realize that his actions are selfish for him, but will hopefully inspire Evey to make her actions about the greater good of the people. The problem is this is pretty complicated plot stuff, and I’ll comes off a hell of a lot better in a graphic novel than in a 2+ hour movie on the screen. A lot of the time I just was sitting back going "Blah, blah, blah. Just get me to the next 5^th of November so I can see if V can pull this off, and, oh yea, when does Evey transform herself into a badass that the trailers hint at?" And so, with that statement, disappointment set in because the most badass Evey seems to get is to push down a lever.

Look, those of you expecting a "Matrix" action movie because the Wachowski brothers are involved, are going to be truly disappointed because although V kicks ass at times, the closest you get to a fun fight scene is in V’s last stand. For the most part this is a drama, with some action set in, with the underlying story being don’t always trust what your government folks are telling you because a lot of times they lie.

In the end it’s 2 stars out of 5 for "V for Vendetta." I probably would have given it 3 stars if the trailer wasn’t so deceptive. I so much wanted Evey to turn into Trinity from "The Matrix."

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!